That’s me in the Demon Hunter shirt with Nick Hippa guitarist for As I Lay Dying.

As you may know, As I Lay Dying lead vocalist Tim Lambesis has been arrested and charged with hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife. That hit man was an undercover police officer, who was tipped off about the potential murder plot 7 days earlier.

Tim Lambesis was arrested in a Barnes N Noble on May 7th 2013 at 2:00pm on Vista Way in Oceanside, California. He had just returned from touring all over the world including including China, South Korea, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. The Grammy-winning Christian metal titans were set to tour with Killswitch Engage on May 30th, and As I Lay Dying won Loudwire’s Deathmatch Hall of Fame Award recently, on April 2nd, for getting four consecutive wins when pitted against other bands including Killswitch. All seemed to be looking up… Now this.

Tim Lambesis signing my brother’s guitar as seen in the above pic. It’s also signed by Demon Hunter, Becoming the Archetype, Haste the Day, The Showdown, Living Sacrifice and Norma Jean.

Here is the official As I Lay Dying Police press release from the San Diego Sheriff’s Office:

“Murder for Hire Plot Foiled – Lead Singer for As I Lay Dying Arrested: Tim Lambesis, lead singer and co-founder for the heavy metal band “As I Lay Dying”, was arrested without incident today, May 7 2013 at 2:00pm in a retail business on Vista Way in Oceanside. Lambesis is charged with “Solicitation of Another to Commit Murder.” Information came to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept. on May 2nd that Lambesis was soliciting another individual to kill his estranged wife, who resides in Encinitas. The Encinitas Detectives, The San Diego Fugitive Task Force and the Sheriff’s Special Investigation Division investigators immediately initiated an investigation. The investigation culminated this afternoon, when Lambesis solicited an undercover detective to kill his wife. He was then arrested, transported to the Encinitas Station, and booked into the Vista Detention Facility.”

Tim Lambesis with my friend from the above photo.

Here is the official statement from As I Lay Dying (excluding Tim, naturally), who have not given any more details than this short statement, via label Metal Blade Records.

As I Lay Dying Official Band Statement On Tim’s Arrest:
“To our fans,
As we post this, the legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We’ll keep you informed as best we can. Our thoughts right now are with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation – and with our fans, whom we love and draw strength from. Thank you for understanding, and as always, for your support of As I Lay Dying.”
– Jordan Mancino, Nick Hipa, Phil Sgrosso and Josh Gilbert

Once again, this time with Nick. Whom they were squealing over.

Tim Lambesis appeared in court today, May 9th 2013 at 1:30PM for his arraignment, where he will be read his charges of: “Solicitation to Commit Murder” and “Conspiracy To Commit Crime”. Reportedly he will be facing 20 years to life if convicted. Considering that he solicited an undercover cop, it’s expected that he will be fully convicted and found guilty based on the evidence. Of course he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and no specific details are known about the situation.

Tim Lambesis, 32 years of age, married his wife Meggan Murphy in 2004, and she divorced him in September of 2012. Some reports say he wanted the divorce and asked for it, not her. They have three adopted children, ages 4, 8 and 10 (two girls and a boy), from Ethiopia. Tim had said this about his kids in an interview with Loudwire earlier this year, “My kids are adopted and I’ve visited their country – they’re from Ethiopia and that was eye opening to what the world is really like, at least a third of the world. I think that just influences my entire world view even if I’m not necessarily writing a song about humanitarian work, I’m writing a song about what truly makes us happy in life and those types of think that have been influenced by my experiences.”

In the divorce papers filed, his wife describes recent alarming changes in Tim’s behavior and lack of parenting as reasons for the divorce. This included Tim Lambesis becoming “obsessed with body building”, spending “thousands of dollars on tattoos”, and often being distracted by other things when he was supposed to be looking after the kids; including often texting, talking on the phone and napping. He even fell asleep while they were at the beach on one occassion so say the papers. She also stated that his intense touring schedule meant he only spent 10 hours per week with the kids and was gone for months on tour. Although he saw the kids less after they split up and were no longer living together. The couple split amicably and agreed to private mediation to get child custody figured out. She also claimed however that he twice went to visit a girlfriend across the country.

However, as always in these cases, all of this is only one side of the story, and relationships are often complicated and full of issues, especially for someone as busy as Tim. However that is IN NO WAY any excuse for what Tim has now done. Some say he could be suffering from side-effects of steroids and too much protein intake, which can cause “rage” in certain individuals. And Tim buffed up quickly and become obsessed with protein (as he talks about in his workout videos you can see online) and working out. Could that have messed with his head? Or was a lethal cocktail of protein/steroids, touring, stress, legal battles with his ex-wife and the kids, and burnout from constant across the world touring. But who knows, this is all speculation.

I am completely broken apart by this story and my heart is truly wounded. Tim Lambesis, as others have stated, was one of the most down to earth and nicest guys you’d ever meet. And one of the most genuine personalities in metal. This news is shocking, disturbing, and sad beyond belief. Although I am not a HUGE fan of As I Lay Dying, I have been following the band since their debut album Frail Words Collapse, which I listened to online back in the day. That lead me to purchasing Shadows Are Security the day it came out, and I’ve been a fan ever since. I often listen to their songs and videos, although I did not get around to purchasing neither The Powerless Rise, Decas or Awakened (yet). For some odd reason, even though I listened to some of those albums online and several of my friends and brothers raved about The Powerless Rise when it came out. I love all the lyric videos for Awakened and all the songs I’ve heard so far. I remain a fan of the band although I don’t count them among my top favorites (which belongs to Demon Hunter, Becoming the Archetype and The Showdown. Most of my favorite bands are from Solid State, not Metal Blade or any other label and are more blatantly Christian and outspoken in their faith).

But even more than that, I respected and loved Tim Lambesis so much as the frontman and vocalist for the person he is. I saw the band in concert, and met with Tim and Nick outside the tour bus here in Phoenix, Arizona. I got my picture taken with Tim and Nick, Tim signed my brother’s bass guitar and we talked with them and they were very friendly. We were star struck. I feel like I know them after seeing so many interviews, seeing them in person, taking photos with them and watching the DVD documentary for “This Is Who We Are” with all my friends (all of the ones seen in the photos above).

Here are some of my comments in the aftermath of this HORRIBLE tragedy.

Comment #1: Oh no…. Holy crap. Pray that something is amiss here… Tim Lambesis, lead singer of As I Lay Dying, has just been charged and arrested for allegedly putting a hit out on his wife. :( Very, very tragic. Let’s hope his wife is okay, and pray for Tim. He’s gonna need it if this proves out to be true…. I hope to God this isn’t true.

Comment #2: It’s true, here is the official press release from the San Diego Sheriff’s office (website: http://www.sdsheriff.net/). Scroll down and click on “Murder for Hire Plot Foiled (Posted: 5/7/2013 5:00:49 PM)” and the PDF will download. I’ll type it out here I guess:

“Murder for Hire Plot Foiled – Lead Singer for As I Lay Dying Arrested: Tim Lambesis, lead singer and co-founder for the heavy metal band “As I Lay Dying”, was arrested without incident today, May 7 2013 at 2:00pm in a retail business on Vista Way in Oceanside. Lambesis is charged with “Solicitation of Another to Commit Murder.” Information came to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept. on May 2nd that Lambesis was soliciting another individual to kill his estranged wife, who resides in Encinitas. The Encinitas Detectives, The San Diego Fugitive Task Force and the Sheriff’s Special Investigation Division investigators immediately initiated an investigation. The investigation culminated this afternoon, when Lambesis solicited an undercover detective to kill his wife. He was then arrested, transported to the Encinitas Station, and booked into the Vista Detention Facility.”

:( Can’t believe it. So tragic. Pray for everyone involved.

Comment #3: Thank you guys for issuing an official statement. All I hope now is that we will actually hear from Tim himself, and get some kind of explanation. Even if it is true, I want to hear from him, so we can begin the healing process and the process of supporting him through this. In all of this we must not forget the victim as well and Tim’s family. And we must continue to pray for and support the band. I plan on writing Tim in prisonl, and I hope this is a life-changing event for the better. Even though he made the most tragic of mistakes that he can’t come back from, God can and will use this to change him for the better. Darkness took it’s hold this time and he gave into it’s power to destroy and consume. But it won’t win again after he’s done. At least that’s my prayer. All of us can give into that darkness and ruin our lives, people do it all the time. And it’s not rare for great men to fall and give into it. Now all we can do is hope, pray and support Tim and the band. I hope you guys, Nick, Jordan, Phil and Josh will continue the band and find someone to replace Tim. It’s sad, tragic, heartwrenching and will not be the same, since Tim WAS the band. But band’s often replace lead singers. Look at Killswitch Engage. You can come back from this if you desire too. However given the circumstances, I wouldn’t be surprised if any of you never want to play music again following this heartbreaking event. But you have my back and my support if you do. To Tim and the guys, Godspeed. Your true fans are behind you 100%, and Tim we forgive you. You must now pay the piper, but we’ll be rooting for your recovery. You’re in my prayers.

Here is one of the last interviews Tim Lambesis gave before his arrest from February of 2013. Ironically he talks about very dark subjects, including horror movies.

Their newest album, Awakened, was a lot darker than previous albums and a lot more personal. If you listen to it in retrospect, Tim often talks about his demons and a darkside, and some of the lyrics are really prophetic. One of the most prophetic and telling is the song “Cauterize”. It’s main chorus goes like this,

“I’m caught between the feeling. Of being pulled apart. Or stuffed into a cell.” – Wow.

At the bridge things get even deeper down the rabbit hole, when Tim says, “And now I am a patient on the table.” The song goes on to say, speaking to God, “I’ll give you the knife… Cut away as you see fit. Just promise me the patience. To wait for me to heal.” Followed by the chorus again, “I’m caught between the feeling. Of being pulled apart. Or stuffed into a cell.”

St. Anne’s Lullaby+Nocturne+Night’s Sorrow+Denouement mark the closing songs for Becoming the Archetype Month! To celebrate the end of a great run of epic metal music, we have four instrumental tracks taken from throughout BtA’s entire discography, I didn’t include Invisible Creature however, which I posted earlier.

St. Anne’s Lullaby is the 5th track from 2008’s Dichotomy album, Nocturne is the 5th track from 2007’s The Physics of Fire, Night’s Sorrow is the 5th track from 2005’s Terminate Damnation while Denouement is the 10th track.

The closer of Becoming the Archetype Month will fittingly be of instrumental tracks that highlight the bands musical prowess. You will greatly enjoy all of these pieces as each of them are absolutely beautiful music.

About Becoming the Archetype Month
February 2013 is dedicated to the Christian metal band Becoming the Archetype, arguably my favorite band (Along with Demon Hunter and The Showdown, both signed to Solid State Records) and follows January 2013 which was Demon Hunter Month. February will feature songs from BtA’s entire catalog featured daily throughout the month, one a day. Whether you like metal, believe in God or not, check these songs out as you may be pleasantly surprised and hopefully you will discover some new-to-your-ears music to enjoy. Becoming the Archetype’s sound is extremely heavy, and metalheads will be in Heaven. However all songs are deep with powerful lyrics that will make you think and ponder, as the sound takes you to new spaces between time and existence, Heaven and Hell. Enjoy!

Sun Eater + Planet Maker + I AM by Becoming the Archetype are the epic finale’s from their fifth full-length album, 2012’s I AM, tracks #9, #8 and #10, respectively.

Closing out with some of the most epic God metal you’ve ever heard, are three of the most incredible songs from Becoming the Archetype’s most recent album, I AM. Each one of these songs is written from the perspective of Almighty God, The Sun Eater is written from the perspective of Christ, who existed even before anything else existed. The Planet Maker is written from the perspective of The Father, the creator of worlds, without whom nothing would exist that exists. And finally, we have I AM, written from the perspective of the Godhead, Son, Father and Holy Spirit, whose name is the essence of all creation, the birth and the end of all things: The Alpha and The Omega. My favorite track by far is The Planet Maker, which has such a majestic feel to it. It’s truly incredible. All three are absolutely epic, get ready to headbang and praise the Lord within a single breath!

I CREATE
BEAUTY
OUT -OF- NOTHING
Majesty SPINS
FROM MY HANDS
Worlds take FORM
Creation is TORN
TO
MAKE
A
NEW
BEGINNING

NEW LIFE
Is my occupation
New creatures of My own creation
I make the things THAT need MAKING
I wake the worlds THAT need WAKING

Creation is in my hands
To you my life I give
I make a perfect plan
To breathe the life INTO YOUR SKIN
Creation is in my hands
To you my life I give
(TO YOU MY LIFE I GIVE!)
I make a perfect plan
To breathe life
BREATH LIFE INTO YOUR SKIN

CREATION IS IN MY HANDS
TO YOU MY LIFE I GIVE
I MAKE A PERFECT PLAN
TO BREATH LIFE
INTO YOUR SKIN

I am the maker of the worlds
I am creator of the planets
I AM THE MAKER OF THE WORLDS
AND I AM CREATOR OF THE PLANEEEEEETS

In ages past
I spoke to man
Like man would speak to ME
I-rode-upon-the-four-high-winds
And
CRUSHED ADVERSITY

IN AGES PAST
I SPOKE TO MAN HE SPOKE TO ME
AND CRUSHED AD-VER-SITY

My power was shown
In works of might
That my children might be-lieve
The blinding weight of glory
No human eye could see

I AM THAT I AM

I move among your HEARTS
I swim inside your VEINS
I stay behind the scenes and speak
To HEARTS WHO WOULD OBEY
My life infused with many sons
My truth inside your soul
My body is comprised of the nations
Who will make my Kingdom whole

About Becoming the Archetype Month
February 2013 is dedicated to the Christian metal band Becoming the Archetype, arguably my favorite band (Along with Demon Hunter and The Showdown, both signed to Solid State Records) and follows January 2013 which was Demon Hunter Month. February will feature songs from BtA’s entire catalog featured daily throughout the month, one a day. Whether you like metal, believe in God or not, check these songs out as you may be pleasantly surprised and hopefully you will discover some new-to-your-ears music to enjoy. Becoming the Archetype’s sound is extremely heavy, and metalheads will be in Heaven. However all songs are deep with powerful lyrics that will make you think and ponder, as the sound takes you to new spaces between time and existence, Heaven and Hell. Enjoy!

The Trivial Paroxysm by Becoming the Archetype is the final song from their debut album, Terminate Damnation, track #11.

As you’d expect from a Becoming the Archetype album closer, The Trivial Paroxysm is an epic six minute, thirty-second masterpiece of a song and one of the best tracks from their debut album. It doesn’t quite rise to the level of End of the Age of Balance of Eternity, but it is epic none-the-less. Enjoy!

The Trivial Paroxysm lyrics by Becoming the Archetype:

So it begins
And I am surrounded by my enemies
Darkness seems like my closest friend
Suffering and waiting for you
Each breath feels like my last
But that won’t stop me
I’ve seen the way it ends
I won’t give up
Carry on til then
And though I’m incapable of sustaining myself even for a moment
I will outlive time
Carry on

About Becoming the Archetype Month
February 2013 is dedicated to the Christian metal band Becoming the Archetype, arguably my favorite band (Along with Demon Hunter and The Showdown, both signed to Solid State Records) and follows January 2013 which was Demon Hunter Month. February will feature songs from BtA’s entire catalog featured daily throughout the month, one a day. Whether you like metal, believe in God or not, check these songs out as you may be pleasantly surprised and hopefully you will discover some new-to-your-ears music to enjoy. Becoming the Archetype’s sound is extremely heavy, and metalheads will be in Heaven. However all songs are deep with powerful lyrics that will make you think and ponder, as the sound takes you to new spaces between time and existence, Heaven and Hell. Enjoy!

The Balance of Eternity + End of the Age by Becoming the Archetype both hail from the end of their respective albums, Balance of Eternity is the final song from Physics of Fire, while End of the Age is the final song from Dichotomy.

Both of these tracks are absolutely incredible, and create an atmosphere of Godliness that is second-to-known, both of them deal with the Second Coming and the End of Days, which is as metal a topic as you can find, in all honesty. Both songs tackle this topic with incredible panache, and are two of the most enjoyable tracks in the entirety of BtA’s discography. The Balance of Eternity tells of the swelling of Believers, Christian souls who’s light melts the darkness, freeing the entrapped souls from the bondage of their sin through the Light of Christ (“the flame”), yet there are those who will never believe, and thus remain frozen in their death to sin. Forever. Yet the song ends triumphant, as Christ returns to reclaim His followers, wherein every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. So. Awesome.

End of the Age in particular is an absolutely phenomenal song, that makes you want to praise the Lord with all your might, it has an incredibly triumphant sound that is second to known! The chorus in particular, “He is clothed in greatness, His voice resounds throughout the earth” and the way it is sung is absolutely epic. Enjoy!

The Balance of Eternity lyrics by Becoming the Archetype:

They stood just inside the walls of the fortress
And looked out upon an endless sea of ice
At first the only sound was of burning torches
But another sound was rising
That of thousands of souls groaning in bitter agony
Trapped just below the surface and awakened by the presence of fire
The sound of the souls crying out for rebirth continued to grow
It became deafening and caused all of the men there
To fall on their knees
They drove their torches into the ground and watched as the ice began to melt away
The enemy’s grasp was broken by the power of fire
And a great multitude of souls were reclaimed from the ice
But there were many others that did not respond
To the presence of fire
They remained frozen
Enslaved in darkness
Forever

When the mountains crumble into the sea
When the stars fall from the heavens and scorch the earth
Then every knee will bow before the flame
And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
Forever

End of the Age lyrics by Becoming the Archetype:

The earth is SHAKING
Because of His WRATH

The mountains TREMBLE
At the sound of HIS VOICE

He pulls down the sky
TO CRUSH HIS ENEMIES

He descends upon them
WITH FIRE

HE IS CLOTHED IN GREATNESS
HIS VOICE RESOUNDS THROUGHOUT THE EARTH

His vengeance no longer is contained
His light destroys THE DARKNESS

If He speaks
The Earth will CRUMBLE
IF HE MOVES the universe will fall

HE IS CLOTHED IN GREATNESS
HIS VOICE RESOUNDS THROUGHOUT THE EARTH

With the valleys of the seas exposed
And the surface of the Earth LAID BARE

He reached down
Into the void
HE REACHED DOWN AND TOOK HOLD OF ME

HALLELUJAH!

HALLELUJAH!

HALLELUJAH!

HALLELUJAH!

HALLELUJAH!

Before you go, be sure to watch this INCREDIBLE Lyric Video set to the music of Becoming the Archetype’s End of the Age; which features amazing pieces of Christian art. You’ll thank me! And then be sure to check out MetalCrusade777’s Youtube Channel and give him some love. Thank him for such an awesome video and leave a positive comment and give it a like!

About Becoming the Archetype Month
February 2013 is dedicated to the Christian metal band Becoming the Archetype, arguably my favorite band (Along with Demon Hunter and The Showdown, both signed to Solid State Records) and follows January 2013 which was Demon Hunter Month. February will feature songs from BtA’s entire catalog featured daily throughout the month, one a day. Whether you like metal, believe in God or not, check these songs out as you may be pleasantly surprised and hopefully you will discover some new-to-your-ears music to enjoy. Becoming the Archetype’s sound is extremely heavy, and metalheads will be in Heaven. However all songs are deep with powerful lyrics that will make you think and ponder, as the sound takes you to new spaces between time and existence, Heaven and Hell. Enjoy!

Invisible Creature and Cardiac Rebellion are arguably the greatest two tracks off of an amazing album, Becoming the Archetype’s Celestial Completion, unlike some of the greater experimental tracks on the album or the more traditional heavy tracks, these two songs go in a completely new direction. The opening offers a treat for the ears with a Middle Eastern, Arabian Nights-style track using a sitar instrument, and that leads directly into Cardiac Rebellion, an epic, heavy, singable and ska-riffic track that features legendary Christian Ska band Five Iron Frenzy’s own Dennis Culp on trombone! To say this song is epic would be a huge, HUGE understatement. It is one of the most unique metal songs ever recorded! ENJOY!

Invisible Creature lyrics by Becoming the Archetype:
[Instrumental]

Cardiac Rebellion lyrics by Becoming the Archetype:

From somewhere in the darkest depths…
Within the cloth of secrets kept…
Out of silence death maintained…
Resounds a voice that shakes the frame

Listen now unto the call
Like nothing heard before

Living hearts begin to crawl…
Bursting forth through STUBBORN FLESH

The invisible nature is taking over
Taking over from within!

The invisible creature is breaking through
Breaking through the skin!

OH

HEY!
Clear the way!
It’s a rev-O-lution!
CARDIAC REBELLION

Now we see them marching….
Dragging bodies in their wake

To the call there is no stopping…
IT’S FOREVER THAT’S AT STAKE!

The invisible nature is taking over
TAKING OVER FROM WITHIN
The invisible creature is breaking through…
BREAKING THROUGH THE SKIN!

About Becoming the Archetype Month
February 2013 is dedicated to the Christian metal band Becoming the Archetype, arguably my favorite band (Along with Demon Hunter and The Showdown, both signed to Solid State Records) and follows January 2013 which was Demon Hunter Month. February will feature songs from BtA’s entire catalog featured daily throughout the month, one a day. Whether you like metal, believe in God or not, check these songs out as you may be pleasantly surprised and hopefully you will discover some new-to-your-ears music to enjoy. Becoming the Archetype’s sound is extremely heavy, and metalheads will be in Heaven. However all songs are deep with powerful lyrics that will make you think and ponder, as the sound takes you to new spaces between time and existence, Heaven and Hell. Enjoy!